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Opiliones, Pettalidae) from Sri Lanka On the identity of Pettalus cimiciformis and P. brevicauda (Opiliones, Pettalidae) from Sri Lanka The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Giribet, Gonzalo. 2008. “On the Identity of Pettalus Cimiciformis and P. Brevicauda (Opiliones, Pettalidae) from Sri Lanka.” Journal of Arachnology 36 (1) (April): 199–201. doi:10.1636/h07-70sc.1. Published Version doi:10.1636/h07-70sc.1 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:14400078 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA 2008. The Journal of Arachnology 36:199–201 SHORT COMMUNICATION On the identity of Pettalus cimiciformis and P. brevicauda (Opiliones, Pettalidae) from Sri Lanka Gonzalo Giribet: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology & Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. Among the most enigmatic Cyphophthalmi are members of the genus Pettalus, a monophyletic group endemic to Sri Lanka. To date three species have been named, Pettalus cimiciformis (O. Pickard-Cambridge 1875), P. brevicauda Pocock 1897, and P. lampetides Sharma & Giribet 2006. However, the identity of the two XIX Century species remains confusing. Here the identity of the three original Pettalus specimens is revised based on their re-examination and comparison to the original descriptions, which do not match the redescriptions of these species published in the monograph of Hansen & Sørensen (1904). Keywords: Holotypes, male, arachnid, taxonomy Among the most enigmatic Cyphophthalmi are the members of the genus Pettalus, a monophyletic group endemic to Sri Lanka (Boyer et al. 2007). To date, three species have been named, Pettalus cimiciformis (O. Pickard-Cambridge 1875) [described as Cyphophthal- mus cimiciformis], P. brevicauda Pocock 1897, and P. lampetides Sharma & Giribet 2006 (Pickard-Cambridge 1875; Pocock 1897; Sharma & Giribet 2006) with ca. 10 additional species known but still undescribed (Sharma & Giribet 2006). Both nineteenth century species were redescribed by Hansen & Sørensen (1904) and specimens are deposited at The Natural History Museum, London (NHM). However, confusion still remains in the literature with respect to the identity of the types of P. cimiciformis and P. brevicauda. The original descriptions of P. cimiciformis and P. brevicauda do not match the redescriptions of Hansen & Sørensen (1904), and a loan of the supposed two holotypes from The Natural History Museum did not immediately resolve this controversy since both were labelled as P. brevicauda. According to the original description by O. Pickard-Cambridge (1875), the single specimen of Pettalus cimiciformis is an adult male (based on the original illustrations) ‘‘…received from Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites, by whom it was sent to me from Ceylon.’’ G.H.K. Thwaites was then the director of the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, and I had originally suggested that P. cimiciformis may have originated from there (the type locality was listed as ‘‘Ceylon’’). These gardens were visited by G. Giribet, S.L. Boyer, I. Kuranarthna, and P. Sharma in June 2004 and 52 specimens of a Pettalus species were obtained during the visit. However, the species from Peradeniya differs considerably from P. cimiciformis. These specimens have appeared in recent publications as Pettalus cf. brevicauda (Boyer et al. 2007; Boyer & Giribet 2007; Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007). Pettalus 3 cimiciformis was reported to have dimensions of ‘‘length of 1 /4 line, breadth nearly 1 line,’’ and a scale bar reported to be shown at real size in his (O. P.-C.) plate XIII, figure 3f measures almost 4 mm. The second species, described by R.I. Pocock (1897), was based on two specimens from Pundaluoya (spelt Punduloya), in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, collected by E.E. Green. The largest specimen, upon which the description was based, measured 3.8 mm in length and 2.5 mm width according to the original description and was said to differ from P. cimiciformis ‘‘in its relatively weakly lobate ‘tail’ and much smaller process on the fourth tarsus [the adenostyle]’’ (Pocock Figure 1.—Holotype of Pettalus cimiciformis in dorsal (top), 1897:290). He also stated that ‘‘A second smaller specimen, obtained lateral (center) and ventral (bottom) views. Scale bar 5 1 mm. by Mr. Green, has no process on the fourth tarsus, and the last tergite Specimens were photographed under a Leica MZ 12.5 dissecting scarcely lobate and not grooved. This specimen is probably either microscope using a mounted JVC KY-F70B digital camera. Digital young or of a different sex from the type.’’ The illustration of the images captured at different focal planes were assembled using the prosomal ventral complex seems to indicate a closed gonostome, application Auto-Montage Pro Version 5.00.0271 by Syncroscopy. 199 200 THE JOURNAL OF ARACHNOLOGY Figure 3.—Specimen of Pettalus sp. from Pundaluoya in dorsal (top), and ventral (bottom) views. Scale bar 5 0.5 mm. Figure 2.—Holotype of Pettalus brevicauda in dorsal (top), and ventral (bottom) views. Scale bar 5 0.5 mm. cimiciformis (Fig. 1). This species was coded correctly in a cladistic analysis of cyphophthalmid relationships (Giribet & Boyer 2002), but subsequently erroneously ‘‘corrected’’ in a series of later analyses and typical of immature specimens. Although we visited Pundaluoya in papers (Giribet 2003; Sharma & Giribet 2006). The specimen was June 2004, we were not able to locate primary forest, and we did not studied and dissected by C. Juberthie. locate specimens of Pettalus in the tea plantations. In 2001 I received The second specimen (3 mm; Fig. 2), a subadult male with an a loan from NHM supposedly containing the types of both species. incipient tail and adenostyle, but still with a closed gonostome However, both specimens, a large male and a much smaller subadult aperture, is the type specimen of P. brevicauda, as evidenced by the male, were labelled in pencil and using the same font as ‘‘Pettalus description and original illustrations by Pocock (1897). brevicauda’’ from ‘‘Punduloya’’ collected by E.E. Green. The third specimen (3.1 mm; Fig. 3) is a juvenile from the same Consultation of Hansen & Sørensen (1904) did not resolve this collection as P. brevicauda although due to its size (larger than the issue even though it supposedly provided detailed illustrations of both subadult type of P. brevicauda), it may correspond to a second species species. Their Plate III, figure 3a, labelled ‘‘P. brevicauda Poc.’’ from Pundaluoya. This specimen does not have a type status and [italics missing in the original] (see also figure legends on their page should be referred to as Pettalus sp. 168) and description—the largest specimen reported to measure Hansen & Sørensen (1904) redescribed both species but unfortu- 4.6 mm; the smallest reported to measure 3 mm—corresponded to the nately got the specimens mixed up, and since then there has been great larger specimen borrowed from NHM. In contrast, P. cimiciformis confusion with respect to the identity of the species. Furthermore they was reported to measure 3.6 mm, considerably smaller than the other illustrated a specimen of P. cimiciformis (their plate III, figure 2a) specimen (Hansen & Sørensen 1904: 103). Furthermore, the that does not seem to have existed, or at least that does not illustrations of this species (their Plate III, fig. 2) do not seem to correspond to any specimen deposited at the NHM or illustrated in correspond to either specimen described by Pocock (1897; see the original descriptions. Their illustrations from plate III, figure 3, discussion below). labelled P. brevicauda correspond to the type of P. cimiciformis. After a second visit to the collections of the NHM in June 2007, I was able to examine a third Pettalus specimen, also labelled as ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘‘Pettalus brevicauda, Poc. (young), Punduloya (Ceylon), E.E. Green Ligia Benavides provided the images for Figs. 1 and 2. Janet coll.’’ and solve the mystery about the identity of the two oldest Beccalioni kindly assisted during two visits to the NHM and sent Pettalus species. In total, the NHM collection included three specimens on loan. Prashant Sharma provided comments on an specimens of Pettalus illustrated in Figs. 1–3. The largest specimen earlier draft. Mark Harvey, Paula Cushing and an anonymous (5 mm measured in dorsal view from anteriormost carapace border to reviewer provided comments that helped to improve this note. This end of the ‘‘tail,’’ as is currently the standard for measuring material is based upon work supported by the National Science Cyphophthalmi), an adult male, is unmistakably the holotype of P. Foundation under Grant No. 0236871. GIRIBET—IDENTITY OF PETTALUS FROM SRI LANKA 201 LITERATURE CITED namely the family Cryptostemmatoidae., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 182 pp. Boyer, S.L., R.M. Clouse, L.R. Benavides, P. Sharma, P.J. Pickard-Cambridge, O. 1875. On three new and curious forms of Schwendinger, I. Kuranarathna & G. Giribet. 2007. Biogeography Arachnida. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 4 of the world: a case study from cyphophthalmid Opiliones, a 16:383–390. globally distributed group of arachnids. Journal of Biogeography Pinto-da-Rocha, R., G. Machado & G. Giribet. 2007. Harvestmen: 34:2070–2085. the Biology of Opiliones., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Boyer, S.L. & G. Giribet. 2007. A new model Gondwanan taxon: Massachusetts. 597 pp. systematics and biogeography of the harvestman family Pettalidae Pocock, R.I. 1897. Descriptions of some new Oriental Opiliones (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi), with a taxonomic revision recently received by the British Museum. Annals and Magazine of of genera from Australia and New Zealand. Cladistics 23:337–361.
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